I recall an experience many years ago of leaving our home in Campbeltown and heading up the Kintyre peninsula. A few miles into the journey Liz noticed a lamb at the side of the road. We stopped the car, reversed back and she lifted it up and placed it back in the field with the rest of the flock. The lamb could only have been days old but there it was cold, frightened and vulnerable; badly in need of the support, care and sustenance of its mother.
That memory of helping a lost sheep contains many echoes of biblical truth. A good number of us will look back with fondness to the story in our childhood about the 100 sheep and the one that was separated from the flock and ended up lost (Luke 15:3-7). We shared in the joy of the shepherd as he found that one lost sheep and carried it home on his shoulders.
The image of a lost sheep is the classic illustration of our lost spiritual condition outside of Christ. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of his own (Isaiah 53:6).
The most vivid and beautiful description of these truths is found in David’s cherished 23rd Psalm.
Depth and strength underline the simplicity of the psalm. The peace we find here is not escape; its contentment is not complacency. There is a willingness to walk a difficult and dark path because it will ultimately lead to the Lord himself.
I’d like to reflect on this ancient psalm, beginning with its wonderful opening sentence:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (verse 1).
We can all too easily miss the impact of these words because of their familiarity. We ought to hold in our hearts and minds as David certainly did, that we belong to the Lord. There is a striking tone of confidence about this sentence. We don’t find “if” or “but” or even “I hope so” here. David says, “The Lord IS my shepherd.” He encourages us to cultivate a spirit of assurance and dependency on the Lord.
The picture of God as shepherd contains the idea of authority and care. We live our lives under his authority and rely on his content care.
The fuller revelation of Scripture ultimately brings us to the Lord Jesus who said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).
Good means genuine and true. This is the Lord we follow.
And this good shepherd willingly laid down his life to save us, so that we could become his loved, chosen and purchased flock. Such love!
Of all the truths in John 10 regarding Jesus, our good shepherd, I settle on this one to close:
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
Christ’s sheep will never perish. We may wander from him and lose our joy and comfort. But if we are really his, his honour is pledged to seek us and bring us back to himself.
As we ponder the authority and care of the Lord our shepherd and his hold on our lives, we can understand why David is then able to say, “I shall not want.”
(picture - near Auchinleck)
